Halls Gap residents are
reminded that drinking water is available for free at the Halls Gap Service
Station.

The Halls Gap transfer
station is closed today.

Business in the area are determined to return to normal with some already opening their doors.

9AM: ﻿﻿The clean-up and recovery from the Grampians Northern Complex fire has begun with a number of communities and roads reopening.

Community meetings will be held at the Dadswell’s Bridge Hall at 2.00pm and the Mural Room Parks Victoria in Halls Gap at 6.00pm.

Incident Controller Andrew Morrow said while there are still some sections of the fire which are not yet under control, emergency services have been focussing on returning residents to their homes and opening major roads, where it is safe to do so.

“Overnight there has been some works occurring on the Western Highway to remove fallen trees and this morning we’re expecting to open this stretch of road from the intersection of Stawell-Warracknabeal Road to Horsham,” he said.

“There is still a lot of work to do in back burning and blacking out to ensure the fire is safe, but we also need to move in to the recovery stage so that the wider Grampians area can get back to operating as usual.”

Yesterday, the Horsham Incident Control Centre (ICC) also took over control from the Ararat ICC of the Bunjils Cave Road fire at Black Range, south-west of Stawell.

Horsham ICC has also taken over from the Hamilton ICC for a number of fires in Southern Grampians which are now all contained or controlled.

“Late last night the Black Range bushfire took an unexpected turn and jumped containment lines, moving towards Stawell but the threat has now eased and we have an Advice message current for this fire. There is still a significant amount of work to do in establishing control lines and blacking out in some difficult terrain,” Mr Morrow said.

He added that all parts of the Grampians North Complex fire had been downgraded to an Advice message, but said firefighters are still conducting back burning operations at the southern end of the Mt Difficult Range near Halls Gap.

“Back burning works progressed well overnight and we’re hoping to take advantage of more favourable weather conditions over the next few days to complete these works,” Mr Morrow said.

Yesterday the community of Pomonal reopened while Halls Gap was opened to residents.

Today it is expected Dadswell’s Bridge will reopen and Halls Gap will be open to the general public.

The Grampians National Park will remain closed until noon tomorrow.

Residents and people visiting the Grampians can keep informed with the latest traffic information and road closures by visiting www.vicroads.vic.gov.au.

Residents should stay up-to-date with the latest warnings and advice via emergency.vic.gov.au, by downloading the FireReady smartphone application, through CFA’s Twitter and Facebook accounts or by phoning the Victorian Bushfire Information Line on 1800 240 667.

SATURDAY 6.30PM: Several Watch and Act warnings remain in place across the region tonight.

Speaking at the relief centre in Stawell Mr Napthine praised the efforts of the volunteers, firefighters and wider community for heeding the warnings and working tirelessly to defend lives and property.

Mr Napthine also pledged that the Victorian government will work with the Grampians as it faces the inevitable task of rebuilding itself as a tourist destination in the wake of the fires.

In other developments Department
of Environment and Primary Industries and Country Fire Authority is advising road users and residents of the current situation with roads in and
around the Northern Grampians fires.

Grampians Road
and Western Highway to Stawell is open to traffic.

The Western
Highway is still closed between the intersection of the
Stawell-Warracknabeal Road and Horsham.

It is expected this section of the
Western Highway will open later today, pending advice from Victoria
Police.

Grampians
Tourist Road and Silverband Road within the Grampians National Park, next
to Lake Bellfield is closed to general traffic. Emergency Services
vehicles can access this area.

Pomonal Road and
Burgh Street, Stawell is open to traffic.

Ararat-Halls Gap
Road and Moyston Dunkeld Road, Moyston is open to traffic.

Pomonal township
is now open for residents only, to return to their homes.

Halls Gap
township will be open at 4pm today for residents to return to their homes.

Please continue to check the VicRoads website
or call 13 11 70 for up to date information.

Road users are advised to take extra care as
road travel may be hazardous due to low visibility from smoke.

10AM: Emergency services continued to work overnight on the Grampians Northern Complex fire which is still threatening the towns of Dadswell’s Bridge and Halls Gap.

A southerly wind change moved across the area from about 8.00pm and caused erratic fire behaviour for several hours.

Incident Controller Andrew Morrow said due to the strong winds, the fire spread in a northerly direction towards St Helen’s Plains, closing the Western Highway.

“An Emergency Warning was issued to this area advising residents that spot fires and ember attacks were occurring. As of 5.00am we were able to contain this section of the fire,” he said.

“We advised that leaving at the time was the safest option as fire behaviour was extremely unpredictable and conditions were becoming increasingly dangerous.”

Mr Morrow praised the efforts of ground crews saying they did a fantastic job overnight and in to this morning in some testy conditions.

“But there is plenty of work still to be done in containing the fire and moving in to the recovery stage."

There have been reports of impacts on two properties near Dadswell’s Bridge.

“This morning in daylight hours we will be able to get a better assessment of what has occurred overnight and what needs to be done over the next few days,” Mr Morrow said.

He said this would include reopening roads, particularly the Western Highway and the Henty Highway.

Residents and visitors to the area can keep up-to-date with the latest on road closures at www.vicroads.vic.gov.au. Rail services are also planned to resume.

“A focus will also be on clearing any tree hazards, however residents need to be aware that this remains a danger after any fire,” Mr Morrow said.

“Today we’ll also look where we can return those who have evacuated to their homes.”

Residents should stay up-to-date with the latest warnings and advice by downloading the FireReady smartphone application, through CFA’s Twitter and Facebook accounts or by phoning the Victorian Bushfire Information Line on 1800 240 667.

“While the threat has eased in some areas, residents and visitors to the area need to be aware that the situation can change at any time and they need to be ready to act,” Mr Morrow said.